I think I disagree
with the Rolling Stones. Although I love to sing, "You can't always get
what you want" to my kids whenever they complain about not getting
something, I think that, when it comes to politics today we can and in fact do
always get what we want. And what we want is definitely not what we need.
Gadianton robbers
Recently I've been
reading the Gadianton robbers chapters in the Book of Mormon. This group, whose
mission statement seems to have been nothing but murder, theft, and extortion,
spread among the Nephites and Laminates alike. However, in an interesting twist,
the Lamanites used "every means in their power to destroy them off the
face of the earth" (Helaman 6:20, 37) while the Nephites united with the
robbers and entered into their "covenants and their oaths" (v. 21).
I'm always surprised that the Nephites, who knew the wickedness that came with
companionship with Gadianton's group, nonetheless accepted the robbers into
their society and even into their government.
When the prophet
Nephi returned from a mission he asked the same question I always ask, in
essence, "How could you do this? Why are you letting these robbers govern
your lives?" (See 7:16-20). This seems to be not only the question of that day in the Book of Mormon but the
question of our day today. We look at
the current political environment and wonder how on Earth we have a system
filled with so much vitriol, backbiting, corruption, and hate. It seems like
every other post on social media is a complaint about this candidate or the
other. Indeed, our whole nation seems to be asking the similar questions to
what Nephi asked: "How could did this happen?"
The answer is
painful, poignant, and probably unexpected. When Nephi returned from a mission
and called his people to repent he chastised them, not so much their actions,
but their desires. He told them the
reason the Gadianton Robbers had so infiltrated their society is because all
the Nephites wanted was "to get gain, to be praised of men [and to] get
gold and silver" (7:21). In other words, the Nephites were to blame for
their own evil leadership. They wanted money and pride without work or
accountability and the Gadianton robbers offered them the seeming path to all
their desires. In short, the Nephites got what they wanted!
What we really want...
I submit that we, as
a nation, stand guilty of the same problem. We love to complain about political
candidates. We're frustrated because they don't represent our values or
interests. And yet, we have to ask ourselves, are we getting what we want? Do
we really want good, moral, peaceful leadership? Or are we more interested in a
good show? Are we so addicted to the entertainment value provided by angry
debates and social-media-name-calling that we have come to actually want that to be the public discourse? If,
all-of-a-sudden, peace and kindness became the melody that replaced the
cacophony of contention would we breathe a sigh of relief or a yawn of boredom
wondering where we can go next for entertainment?
Is what we really
want entertainment?
Consider this: if we
were to judge desires based on the amount of time spent pursuing them, what
would come out on top as the thing Americans want the most? Here are some
shocking statistics:
- The average American adult consumes over 5 hours of entertainment a day which makes it the second most time-consuming activity besides sleep.
- Since the average American is awake for just under 16 hours a day this means we spend almost 1/3 of our waking hours consuming entertainment.
- Total up those hours and you get 35 hours (more than a full day) a week, almost 2000 hours (more than 75 days) a year, and if those numbers were to hold steady over a lifetime, more than 15 YEARS in a lifetime!
- As a nation we spend almost $3000 on entrainment a year which is more money than we spend on education, clothing, personal care, or charitable donations.
- The average person checks their phone almost 50 times a day; as a nation that means we collectively check our phone more than 8 billion times a day.
In other words, we
want (and in staggering amounts are getting) entertainment! And with the
widespread availability of handheld access to media, social media, and games,
we can get what we want pretty much whenever we want. Should it surprise us
then that our political system has become more akin to reality television than
to actual government? Should it surprise us that political drama is so often in
the news? Should it surprise us that presidential debates between the current
candidates are setting record high viewership numbers despite being filled with
less substance than possibly ever before? Should it surprise us that so many
people accuse candidates of being better entertainment stars than actual
candidates for office?
Should any of that
surprise us, or are we just getting more of what we want?
And that's just one
example of something we want and are now getting (maybe to a degree which we
didn't intend, but getting nonetheless). There could be multiple examples of
things we spend our time and energy wanting that, in our current political
environment, we are getting. Much of the media we consume is violent, sexist,
and crude. Hence we have a political dialogue that is verbally violent, sexist,
and crude. In other words, we can complain all we want but the biggest finger
of blame might be pointing right back at us! We feed the monsters of our desire
and now spend our time screaming at the damage they're doing.
If we try sometime we get what we need
So what do we do?
Well, for starters, we stop feeding the monsters. We stop "wanting"
what we don't need and start feeding the needs that have been starving behind
our wants. Unplug, disconnect, power down, and reconnect to the things that
bring real edification--family, friends, inspiring literature, and thoughtful
discourse. The next time we hear or read anger or viscous spouting of personal
attacks, whether in the political arena or elsewhere, just turn off the TV,
close the browser, stop the stream, and go read a book to your child. Pull the
video game controller out of their hands and talk to them about what true
leadership is. Seek, in some small way, to add back to the American ideal the
morality, integrity, honor, and virtue that have all been lazi-ed or politcally
correct-ed away.
And maybe, just
maybe, as the song goes, if we try sometime we can get what we need!
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